Small Steps
by BG Sparrow
Summary: [Set during invasion] An emotionally unstable girl adds moving across the state with her family to her list of things that are slowly but surely weakening her. If she thinks moving on is a challenge, what happens when the aliens show up?
1. Thompson's Plot

My family has recently decided that we are moving. When I found this out, I was not happy at all... I only thought of the bad things. Losing my friends, getting use to a whole new school for my senior year... This is a nightmare to me. Last weekend, we went across the state to see the property, and oddly enough, it was in Bucks County. Then, as if it really did mean something, _Signs_ was on television tonight, and the whole family watched it, joking about aliens attacking us in our new home. I didn't find it too funny because I'm still upset, so I decided to write this. I am writing this off of the top of my head inall night, so I hope it fairs well. Maybe I'll feel a little better in the morning, too. So here goes a little something that has to do with something strange happening to someone like me who gets uprooted and thinks that the worst thing about it is losing her old life back across state when she never even imagined the possibilities. This is totally spur of the moment, but I hope it's okay, and I hope you like it. It's sort of a self-insertion, but not entirely. I'll write off of my feelings, though. You just read it and tell me what you thought. Enjoy.

x x x

**Chapter One**

My life was changing as I knew it would at this age, but I never thought it would be in such a negative way. Every few months, people I know have been leaving me. Getting sick, dying, moving, some just drifting away because I serve no purpose in their lives any longer. I don't think they knew ho much they meant to me when they left me, though. It felt very careless and cold of them to do such a thing. I can't even concentrate on my music anymore. My keyboard has been collecting dust now for about three and a half months. I try every so often to read the pieces of music I do have, but everything keeps coming back.

I didn't think it would get any worse after my dog died and I was diagnosed with heart cancer the same day. I'm supposedly not allowed to get worked up or it can spread and increase my risks, so it hurts to fight back tears. So for a week a sat eating hardly anything and staring out into space sadly as if my life had already ended; my friends were gone, music was no longer appealing, my dream to teach it - my future - was gone before I had even found a college to attend. I felt lifeless everytime my heart had beat when I sat on the swing on the pool deck just watching the water. Nothing else felt like it could possibly go wrong.

Until dinner.

We're moving. Dad's found a plot a land out around Philadelphia he wants us to go to now. There's ten acres - plenty of land for my parents and the three of us kids to live on one day when we have families of our own. But I just deteriorated. I was furious. I had finally planned not to tell anyone at school my last year there that I was sick and keep on with my music major and now I'm moving? I remember running down to the Honda in the driveway and lying across the front seats crying with the windows rolled up on that hot summer evening. I didn't care about my heart then; maybe it would explode then and there and save me from having to say too many painful goodbyes to my friends, my school, my teachers, my church, my home, and my memories.

The next day we drove six hours across state to see our soon-to-be new home. It was terrible. The house was falling apart and the yard was overgrown, but that's what our parents wanted - a flat yard and a fix-up house. They said it would be worth the ten acres of land we were getting instead of the little squat we were in now between two houses on a giant hilltop. I didn't care. I hated the house. Ours was so much nicer. You'd think after eighteen years of making it beautiful they'd want to stay there, but no. My parents want to sell it.

So we did. Not even two months later.

The buyers were newlyweds expecting twins they had said. On the day we showed them around, the woman adored every inch orf the yard while the man marvelled over the craftsman ship my dad had done on the house itself. When they saw my room that had been built in the basement after my brother was born four years ago and told me it would be perfect for their two bloodhounds though, I looked at my turquiose carpet sadly and walked away.

My home was gone.

At least the one I knew.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Thompson's Plothad to bethe dirt hole of the state of Pennsylvania. True, my life had not been luxurious and I shopped daily at WalMart unlike most of my old peers, but I felt like I had gone from a limousine to a junkyard Geo in seconds flat. I looked at the house sadly as I got out of the car. I comtemplated suicide for half a second, but I couldn't bare to miss anything interesting... what if the place had a working toilet? Even a lightbulb? Heck, two lightbulbs? That would be amazing.

I went inside without a word. My sister eagerly tromped up the stairs, every single one with their own unique creaking noise. I walked up slowly, not as thrilled as getting to share a room with my equally opposite sister after having my own room my whole life. We got to the top landing, and she picked the first door she saw and opened it. She stepped inside with her face falling a little as if she has expected the grand ballroom or something while I just stood in there looking at what I had expected to see - absolutely nothing in a small room.

"Well, at least we have our own beds," Hattie said. I slumped my shoulders still looking at the green mint wallpaper peeling on the walls. I sighed quietly but miserably.

"Yeah," I said. "If the floor can hold them it'll be a miracle."

Hattie was already dropping her things in the left hand corner to claim it. I walked over to the right side and sat down my duffle bag carefully while my sister walked out of the room to go get some more of her things out of the Caravan until Dad got here with the U-Haul. Mom, from downstairs, was yelling at us to hurry and get our things to our room so we could help bring in her and Dad's stuff. I was about to cry again, but the pain in my chest restricted me. I followed my sister downstairs without a word.

My mom began to hand my sister huge boxes with the words 'plates' and 'crockpot' and stuff written on it. I saw the box with all of our glasses in it and went to pick it up, but my mom suddenly lowered her arm between me and the box. I stood back up looking at her with an expression she must not have been able to read.

"I'll let your sister get that," she said. "You can just do some light work for now. How about sweeping off the front porch?"

I stared at my mom evenly. "Why can't I get the glasses?" I asked. "I can handle it."

"I don't want you overexerting yourself right now," she said. "Not with-"

"Mom, I'm fine," I said. "I told you I'm not going to always use it as an excuse. It's been almostfour months. Now may I please help move the boxes inside?"

I had a tone; I knew it. My mom simply pointed towards the worn out front door.

"It doesn't go away in four months, Madeline" she said angrily. I knew why, too; my grandmother had died of cancer when I was five, and we both missed her more than anyone else in the family. But I got defensive when she said that. She treated me like I was stupid or something.

"You think I don't know that?" I was suddenly shouting. "I'm not dumb, I know! Okay? It's not going to go away." My mom and I were both ready to cry after I had to go and state the obvious, but I just swallowed hard and looked her in the eye. "May I please move the boxes now?" I asked quietly.

She didn't reply immediately... she just looked at me. I stared back as some sort of challenge, but she finally shook her head. Normally I would have my mouth shooting off at this, but I just stood there feeling defeated and suddenly exhausted.

"Sweep off the porch," she said to me. I looked down at the wooden floor a moment before walking off to do what I was told for once. I didn't feel like arguing for once. Maybe I lost that spark to fight in me, too. I didn't want to lose my will to fight back and argue a point though. But sadly, I lost a lot of things that day.

I picked up the old broom leaning against the inside of the screen door and headed out. The handle was beginning to splinter badly, so held it carefully as I swept with little effort. My dad came with the U-Haul when I was finishing up, and he actually let me help carry some things in while he occupied my mom in the kitchen. He always helped me out somehow, and I loved him for it. Hattie and I even got our beds set up. We helped put our little brother Del's bed together in his room before the sun began to set, too.

After our first official dinner living at the Thompson Plot (pizza), Hattie and I went upstairs to our new room. I hung up some posters just to cover the hideous wallpaper while we found an actual electric socket between our beds and plugged in my CD player. I was taping up my last poster while Hattie messed with the curtains on the window on her side of the room.

"Hey," she said suddenly. I turned.

"What?"

"We've got the porch roof out here."

I got off of my bed and walked over as she lifted the window with some difficulty. I held back the curtain as we looked out and smiled; it reminded me of sitting on the porch roof at my best friend's house late at night when we had sleepovers. My actions played on my memory, and I was starting to climb through the window.

"What are you doing?" Hattie asked.

"Sitting on the porch roof," I said, quietly placing my bare foot out onto the rough roofing.

"What if mom and dad catch us?" she asked, climbing out after me. That's what I never understood about my sister... always trying to make a point against what she herself is doing at that vaery moment. Hypocryte...

"Just leave the window open in case we have to get back in," I said. I slid down some so she could get out, and she looked around the wide open country in front of us. I smiled some as she sat down.

"This is cool," she said.

I half-heartedly admitted it as I looked out at the far off corn fields. "Yeah."

"Is that a house way over there?" Hattie pointed straight out, but I only made out a very samll black dot against the orange sky as I squinted.

"I don't know," I said. "Let's have a better look." I stood up and looked around for a way to climb higher onto the very top of the house. I walked around to the front and stepped on some ledging to test it for strength. it seemed good, so I started to climb. Hattie followed.

"Now what?" she asked scandalously. "You know Dad said the roof's not safe. We need to get it replaced."

"This whole place needs to be burned down and entered into Extreme Makeover House Edition," I said, climbing to the pinnacle of the roof. Hattie eventually came up cautiously as I directed my eyes on the tiny black dot a few miles away on the horizon again. She leaned forward curiously as I was.

"Yeah, it's a house," I finally said after squinting some more.

"Are you sure?"

"It's house-shaped," I said. "Therefore, it's a house."

Hattie shrugged and looked back out at it skeptically. "Okay..."

I looked at all the crops of corn surrounding the house in semi-amazment. It was sort of cool. The view was nice. Nothing obscured the flat horizon for anything, save the little house in the distance. I was tempted to go and get my camera; I could sell this picture to calendar company.

"Do you think they're Amish?'

I looked over at Hattie at her strange comment.

"What?"

"Well you know... Amish... never talk to anyone? Have a horse and buggy?"

"Lancaster is farther east," I said. "You're crazy."

"Well they could be..." she said defensively.

"You don't know anything about the people that live in that house," I said. "You own them an apology even if you never do properly meet them."

"Should I write a long letter or just go to their door begging for forgiveness?" she asked sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.

"Just shut up and get back inside the house. I'm getting tired. plus, I feel a weak spot in the roof right here." Ipressed down on the spot in front of me, and Hattie joined in until our fingers went through the shingle abruptly. We stared at each other fearfully before scrambling to our feet quietly as possible and flying back into our room.

"I told you this house was a dump," I muttered as I went over to my bed.

"But it has a nice view," Hattie said. I sighed, turning out the light on the nightstand.

"Yeah, I guess it had that."

I rolled over on my bed trying to ignore the funny new smell of the room. I buried my face in my blanket trying to get back the scent of my old room as I mumbled goodnight to Hattie and she mumbled back. As I fell asleep, i thought about how much I didn't want to stay in this stupid town. I wanted to runaway or something. Go back to my better life. Before moving, before losing my friends, before finding out that I had cancer...

I thought of the horizon again Hattie and I were looking at. It was perfectly flat except for that house. It stood out like I would once I started school in the fall. I took some comfort in knowing that even though the house was placed strangely, it looked right after staring at it for a while. Maybe the same thing would apply to me soon enough.


	2. The Crazy People

Here's chapter two. Thanks for reviewing, Norma Jean. I hope the move goes okay, too, but I doubt it. I guess I'm basically writing this to reassure myself that worse things could be at my new home. Hope you stick with it. I also forgot the disclaimer and claimer in the first chapter, so I'm sorry. I've inserted them now, but I won't anymore. Just so you all know it's in here somewhere. Have fun with chapter two.

x x x

**Chapter Two**

"Madeline?"

I stared at my pork chops even though I was sticking my green beans into my mashed potatoes boredly. My elbow was on the table, and I had my head in my hand not looking or talking to anyone. I had never really played with my food before either, but it was quite entertaining. I ignored my name for a second time while I sent my green beans to their potatoey doom. I wasn't too hungry. I haven't been for a while.

"Madeline, eat," my mom, said.

"I'm not hungry," I said tiredly. I was beginning to run out of green beans to drown, so I started targeting the pork chop. Everyone was staring at me; I felt it, but I didn't look up.

"We need you to do us a favor if you would," my dad said now, a little more gently than my mom was speaking to me. I sighed.

"What?"

My dad put his fork down and leaned forward. I looked up knowing it must be important.

"Next week, we're going back into town to finalize the sale and take care of a few things with you relatives," he said. I looked up somewhat hopefully, but that was gone when he had to go and say it: "We need you to stay here for when the construction crew and stuff get here. It'll only be for a week."

For the first time in a long time I was getting the urge to open my mouth and argue. Before I knew it, my mouth was shooting off as I got all worked up. My chest started its stabbing pain again.

"But I want to go, too!" I shouted. "I want to see our home again! I want to see my room before two bloodhounds stink it up! Why can't I go!"

"It's not like we're handing the new owners the house key," my mom said. "We have to do a good deal of paperwork while we're out there, not to mention return some things and say goodbye to your relatives."

"Oh, so I'm not allowed to say goodbye?"

"Madeline-"

"Can't I at least go back to spend a few last days with Kat and Brooke?" I pleaded. "It's not like they live right down the road anymore…"

"Maybe you can have them over one week before school starts," Dad said, trying to reason with me. I just scoffed with some tears.

"Dad, Kat and I had to beg Brooke's mom forever just to let her come to the one and only sleepover the three of us have ever had together! I hardly think they'll be allowed to go across state for a week. Beside, why would they want to come here?" I asked quietly.

I looked around as my parents began to heave ho as their impatience grew. My sister, from beside my little four-year-old brother, was keeping her nose close to her plate to stay out of the confrontation. I gave her a look with a little disgust as Dad spoke up again.

"It's just for a week," he said.

"And where will you be staying?" I asked challengingly.

"At my mom's house," he replied immediately. I leaned back in my chair feeling defeated again. Grandma did live just down the street in a big house that I had spent so many nights in before. He kept talking. "Now we need you to do this for us, okay?"

"No, it's not okay," I said, rising from my chair and sitting my plate on the countertop moodily.

"You know, you could be a little more mature about all this," Mom said with some disappointment.

I wiped my eyes without throwing a mean glare at her. How do you handle the situation maturely when you just lost everything you loved? Mom obviously wasn't listening when the doctors told me it was not good to make me upset. I was upset. My chest was hurting more now. I walked into the living room and flopped down on the couch miserably as I began to cry now.

"I hate this place…" I sobbed quietly.

"You're still staying here!" Mom shouted from in the dining room.

My face scrunched up more with anger as I got a particularly painful stab in my chest. I clutched my shirt, trying to calm down and breathe. I don't remember much after that. The pain subsided slightly as I drifted in and out of sleep. I remember thinking about one bad night when Brooke and I helped Kat get out of her dad's house when he was on a drunken rampage and snuck her off to the playground for the night. I wish someone were here to do that for me right now.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

I leaned against the porch column as my parents, sister, and little brother packed up the Caravan for their little trip a few days later. Del was excited and Hattie got to go spend time with her friends that wouldn't remember her for a second after she left them again, but I just watched them sadly and angrily thinking about my two best friends and all the other people I was missing. I even missed that annoying little tenth-grader that sat at our lunch table that I called some questionable names five or six times a day. He would even make me feel a little better right now.

Then, my mom walked up to me with a gentle smile as all the doors on the Caravan began to close soundly, but I just looked away stubbornly. She stopped in front of me not saying a word, and I eventually looked at her hatefully.

"You take care," she said pulling me into a hug. I hugged her back less enthusiastically. Four days ago she was yelling at me to be more mature and now she's treating my like I'm still in elementary school.

"I will," I said as if it were instinct. She stepped back.

"The crew should be here in two days," she said. "Offer them something to drink here and there, maybe see if we have any iced tea-"

"Mom, I've got it under control," I said. "I just can't believe we've only been living here a week and you're trusting me to take care of the house by myself."

"I would leave Hattie here with you, but that would only ensure the house would be gone when we got back," she said, walking up towards the car now. I had to agree; Hattie and I usually didn't do so well when we were left home alone together. She likes to think she's the boss instead of me. Well no twelve-year-old bosses me around.

"Bye," I said as she opened the car door. She waved and blew me a kiss, and dad honked the car horn as they began to pull out. I felt tears welling up and my heartbeat quicken some, but I finally let out a deep sigh when they got on the road and drove off down the road where I couldn't see them anymore.

I stood there only a minute more. Now my family had forced me to move and then they leave me here by myself in this very unsafe house that creeped me out. I turned around, walking back into the house lifelessly. Mom had hung a few things on the wall to make it look a little better, and the living room did have our old furniture still. The kitchen looked as it had when we got here except for the fact that our dishes we in the cupboards now.

I walked upstairs to my room slowly as if I were in a dream. Boxes were still outside of the doors in the hallway with some noon sunlight on them as I walked into the room and looked around at it. Bored, I dug under my bed in my giant Rubbermaid box for a notebook filled with an unfinished story I could occupy myself with downstairs on the computer.

It was a fun afternoon and evening of seven hours typing nonstop. I blasted music loudly even though I thought the house might collapse, but at least I didn't have to worry about police way out here. Ten acres can be good when it comes to me having the urge to blast music when I'm home alone. I had little to eat except for a turkey and cheese sandwich; Kat, Brooke and I had them all the time when we'd get together. I drank five glasses of ice water and ate all of the ice, too; I love ice. But I was getting beat now. It was almost two in the morning. I figured that three chapters wasn't too bad for seven hours considering I haven't worked on the story in ages.

I packed up my notebook and flash drive, heading back up to my room. I tossed them back into my giant Rubbermaid box and slid it back under my bed as a breeze found its way into the room. I looked at the window between our beds; it was shut. I turned around to the one on Hattie's side of the room; it was the one that was opened.

I walked over to it. The breeze felt nice and relaxing even though I wasn't completely tired yet. With nothing else to do, I decided to climb up on the top of the roof again for a while. I was stepping out of the window when I spotted Hattie's binoculars lying on her bed. I thought came over me to take them on the rook with me. I didn't know why, but it was another strange feeling I was having. I decided to take them, throwing them around my neck before I scaled the house to the spot Hattie and I laid on our first night there. As much as I hated to admit it, I sort of missed Hattie now.

I folded my arms underneath my chin as I looked out far in front of me. I could barely make out the horizon at all, let alone the little house because of the darkness. Within a few minutes my eyes had adjusted, though, and they sky seemed to be just dark blue instead of pitch black. I could now sort of see a line forming out in front of me. I got excited and looked for the house, too.

Then, I saw the little dot. It was still very far away, but somehow it felt closer than it did a week ago. Maybe I was bonding with the new neighbors without knowing it. I wanted to get closer to the house and see it, though; I wondered who lived there. I watched the house carefully for a while until I shifted and something poked me sharply in the ribs.

"Ow…"

I sat up and looked underneath me; the binoculars lay there forgotten. I smiled and picked them up, bringing them to my eyes. I looked at the house that immediately became closer. I considered for a second that what I was doing was illegal and thought to be saying on other people's property, but I wasn't spying, I was just being curious.

From what little moonlight I had, I could make out some shingles on the roof along with a window popping out here and there. It looked like a big house. Maybe a nice old couple or a family lived there. I couldn't choose. I always associated old people wearing blue jean overalls with farms and cornfields, so it was hard to imagine a nice family living there.

I studied it. The trim was white. The porch wrapped around like ours did, but it had two windows on the top floor while ours only had one. But then, something caught my eye on the roof. Something moved. Maybe it was a weathervane? Did the house have a weathervane? Or maybe it was just a flag or something…loose article of clothing or-

Then a full body stood tall on the roof. I gasped quickly and put my head down on the roof in panic, thinking that it had seen me. I realized how stupid I was being when there was at least a mile between my house and that one, though; who could possibly see that far that well?

My curiosity started to come back as I lifted my head slowly. I couldn't see the figure on the roof without the binoculars anymore, so I carefully brought them to my eyes again. The strangely built figure hadn't moved. It was like it was staring at me. I was getting very afraid now, especially when it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

I put my binoculars down as my hand shook a little. Okay, so there were now two options. Either our new neighbors are not a nice old couple or family and are just a bunch of lunatics that scare people out of there right minds, or they were being robbed. I though lunatics for a time after having that person just stand on that roof and stare at me as if I was right in front of him, but then it acted as if it were running away. Burglar finally won in the end even though I had this crazy though that it would come after me.

"I've got to warn them," I said to myself, getting up from my spot on the roof.

I was climbing back down onto the porch roof when I thought about calling them, but it was the middle of the night, plus I didn't have the phone number. Once inside my room, I thought about just calling the police. But then what if I was wrong? That would be like a false alarm and I would get in trouble. That's all I needed…

Stupid as it was, I started pulling on a pair of jeans under my nightshirt. I tied my hair back and grabbed a flashlight from the hallway closet. I didn't know what I was going to do exactly since the possibility of lunatic neighbors still stuck in my head hard to ignore, but I wasn't about to let some old couple or nice family get robbed. Besides, I miss sneaking out and walk around at night. Kat, Brooke, and I used to have a blast doing that. I never did it through a cornfield, though. That would be fun.

I went out the back door and down the steps of the porch with my flashlight swinging at my side. I held it close to me as I crossed the decent-sized field between the tall cornstalks and our house cautiously. My eyes darted around frantically, but I began to gather up some confidence as I crossed the field. But it was all gone again when I came up to the corn. I sighed, not sure if I really wanted to do it, but I figured it'd be the only interesting thing I'd get to do anytime soon.

The corn stalks towered over me as I entered them. I felt like I was causing too much noise, but I moved as fast as I felt comfortably. The flashlight was right out in front of me on the ground as I walked at a good pace. I nodded to encourage myself to keep going, but then something moved behind me, and I jumped.

I turned around wide-eyed with my flashlight scanning all around my furiously. Okay, so maybe the crazy neighbor on the roof coming after me for spying on him theory wasn't so far-fetched after all. I wanted to run back to my house, but I decided to keep going until I found the road to follow back. I apologized silently if there really was a burglar about to rob that house, but I was not staying there any longer.

I jogged forward away from the sounds looking over my shoulder as corn stalks smacked me in the face. I kept going on this bad feeling in my stomach about being killed by a mental nutcase in the middle of a cornfield and no one ever finding me, but it was after this thought passed that I realized that I wasn't running through corn anymore.

I stopped suddenly and looked around. Corn surrounded me, but I was in some sort of clearing shaped very strangely. I looked at the ground below my feet and saw many corn stalks had been bent over almost a little too perfectly. I heard another rustle and looked up, an eerie feeling of not wanting to be right creeping into my spine.

"Crop circle…" I said breathlessly as I looked around fearfully. I was standing in… a crop circle? And the pranksters were behind me somewhere probably going to jump me for stumbling in on their fun. I was definitely panicking now.

Immediately I began to run forward into more corn not caring how much noise I made. I just wanted to get out alive. I never thought I would think it, but I wanted to see our crummy new house again. I kept running, but I came into another clearing. I stopped in shock briefly before I heard more noises and kept running, this time to the side. Finally, I made it out of the cornfield, but I stumbled over something and landed hard on my stomach as I exited.

Grass. I was laying in grass now. I looked up and around; I was at the house. The lights on the ground floor were on, and I wasn't so sure about the burglar anymore. I went to go hide behind something on the back porch, but I suddenly heard the screen door on the opposite side of the house bang open and panicked. Fast footsteps were racing towards me, but I couldn't tell from which side of the house. I ran to my right as I began to hear two voices screaming all of this crazy stuff that made me feel utterly trapped.

I tried to run for the right side of the house, but a flying figure suddenly turned the corner screaming "We're gonna beat your ass bitch!" I emitted a small scream of fear as I turned to run the other way, but someone else was coming yelling something about being insane with anger. I backed up towards the porch and fell backwards. I tried to get to my feet and make a break for the corn again, but the first man I had seen spotted me and turned the next corner at full speed coming right at me.

"I'm gonna tear you head off!" he bellowed.

I screamed and dived for the porch again, but the man came at me so fast. He had a painfully strong grip on my shoulders before I could think, and the other man that was screaming had come up behind me. I was crying totally scared out of my mind at that point. The guys hold my shoulders kept screaming.

"What the hell are you doing!" he yelled. "Who the hell are you!"

"Madeline! Madeline Cossel!" I cried out fearfully through sobs. "I wasn't doing anything, I swear! I just saw something on your roof and I came to tell you about it and-!"

"You weren't on the roof?" the other man asked me, suddenly acquiring a question in his tone. I shook my head quickly and breathed heavily as the man still holding my shoulders looked at me very unconvinced.

"Who's up there then?" he asked me dangerously. "You're little buddy Lionel?"

"I don't know anyone named Lionel!" I said. "I just moved here last week up the road and saw something on the roof-"

"Stop lying!" he shouted in my face.

"I'm not lying, I swear!" I said, crying now. "This is a huge misunderstanding! I don't even know how to get on a roof from the ground!"

Then, we heard a loud thud up on the roof of the house. All three of us looked up fearfully as the last of a tall figure disappeared. I couldn't believe it. There was something up on the roof. It felt like some crazy person was terrorizing two other crazy people. The man holding my shoulders looked down at me as if he were afraid but trying to hide it.

"What the hell are you trying to pull?" he asked aggressively.

"Nothing! Nothing!" I said. "Honestly! I swear I'm not doing anything! I just moved here!"

"I don't believe you!"

"Merrill." He looked up at the other man, but the other guy just looked at me warily. I was so afraid they were gonna shoot me or something. "Where did you come from?" he asked me.

"Thompson's Plot just up the road," I said nervously as I choked. My chest was searing with pain right now. "We just got here a week ago, me and my family."

"Are you causing problems?" he asked me. "Running around here terrorizing people?" I shook my head.

"No. I just saw something on your roof and thought it was a burglar or something."

"All the way from Thompson's Plot?" the guy holding me said, shaking my shoulders. "That's over a mile away!"

"I was going for a walk when I saw him!" I lied. "I swear to you I had nothing to do with it! I just… just… Ahh!"

My heart shot pain throughout me, and I went limp, clutching at my chest again. The guy holding he let me slip to the ground on my knees where I felt like I was having a heart attack. The other man knelt down beside me quickly and eased me to the ground.

I shook. I sweated. I couldn't breathe. I allowed my eyes to close.

If I were dying, at least my heart beat the crazy people to it.


	3. Blame Game

Thank you so much for reviewing, **Norma Jean** (hahaha... great song choice! MCR, right? I love that! Thanks!) and **Arwen Evenstar Umdomiel** (Thanks! As for the answer to what happened to Madeline, read on! Hope you keep on reading, and thanks to the add to your favorites!)! I feel special. Two reviews, lol. Well, we went and looked at another property this weekend closer to home, but none of us like it (I don't like any of them). But, I figured I'd write a new chapter. Here ya go...

x x x

**Chapter Three**

It was sort of like waking up from a long night's sleep, only it was much more difficult. I had never been unconscious before, so maybe that was why.

First I felt myself breathing slowly in and out... in and out... Then my head felt as if it had become a rock as much as it was hurting; I didn't try to lift it up right away. It felt like a veil was being lifted... I was suddenly aware of a heavy blanket covering me, and the side of my face was laying on the cushions of what smelled liked the old couch my great-grandmother used to have at her house before she passed away. Was I back at the new house? Was I alive or was this a dream?

My eyes opened ever so slightly as I lay there lifelessly. My chest was hurting still. I don't know what happened last night, but I felt very exhausted and weak. I could tell that if I looked in a mirror I would probably be ghost white.

I opened my eyes a little more with a huge effort, and a quaint room slowly blur together. It looked somewhat old-fashioned but not neglected. A small girl was watching television intently in front of me, but I could not make out what she was watching exactly. I saw a staircase beyond that, but a tall figure suddenly stepped into the path of my eyesight. I wasn't afraid immediately for some reason as it walked towards me, but as it sat on the edge of the couch towering over me, my fear came back, and my eyes opened wide.

I clutched the blanket closer to me ready to scream. I was in the crazy farmhouse. They had taken me in to torture me so I could never tell anyone about them. The man I recognized as the one who wasn't shaking me to death last night raised up his hand to silence me, but I only pushed back into the couch more and more with some little gasps starting to come from me. He shook his head, putting his hand down. I stared at him very much afraid from behind the blanket. He didn't have much to say right away, either. He just looked at me a moment. I held my breath.

"How are you feeling?" he finally asked quietly. The alarm in my stare was going away a little bit. He didn't look crazy, but after last night, I just wanted to go home. I didn't reply. I was still unsure of everything. The man cleared his throat uncomfortably, looking from the little girl back to me. I stole a glance at her, too.

"Listen," he said very gently, "this is probably... a big misunderstanding." I agreed but did not interrupt. My eyes softened more, though. He continued. "You'll have to excuse my brother Merrill for last night... myself as well. We didn't mean to scare you, it's just... somebody's been messing around with our property lately, and it's got us all a bit on edge."

He paused, but I didn't say anything. He continued somewhat reluctantly. "I don't think you did this," he said straightforwardly. "But we have an officer here so we can report anything we saw, and if you'd come in the dining room and tell her your part of the story, maybe we can figure out what's going on."

I still didn't answer as he watched me, but I was willing to help since this guy at least looked sane.

"What happened to me?" I asked quietly, pushing on the uncomfortable pressure in my chest under the blanket. The man looked at me sullenly.

"We think you might have had a brief heart attack," he replied. "Are you diabetic at all? We didn't find any medical bracelets or anything on you when you collapsed..."

"No, I have heart cancer," I said. It wasn't quite as bad as it used to be - I was sort of getting use to saying it now to everyone. The man sitting there lowered his head and nodded understandably. He looked back up at me, taking a deep breath.

"Do you need to see a doctor?" he asked. "Do you need to take any special medications?"

I shook my head. "Stress just makes it worse," I explained. "I was terrified last night... I just need to calm down."

"I called your house up the road since you mentioned Thompson's Plot last night, but there was no answer," he told me. "So we kept you here for the rest of the night. I'm amazed you've woken up this quickly."

I nodded. My chest still thudded painfully, but then again I had never had a minor heart attack before.

"Do you think you might be able to come and answer some of Officer Paski's questions for us?"

I nodded again as I sat up slowly. Some of my muscles hurt from lying in an awkward position on the couch. The man removed the blanket from me and left it in a lump on the other end of the couch as I swung my feet to the floor. I was still in my dirty pair of jeans and nightshirt, and my hair was probably a mess still tied back in its ponytail, too.

I was barefoot. I looked around wondering where my shoes were as the man went over to the little girl watching television. Half way across the room, he pointed out of the living room towards the staircase and said, "Your shoes at next to the front door."

I stood up carefully, wishing I had a jacket or something to pull closer around me. I was a bit wobbly at first, but I stood next to the couch looking around as I found my balance again. There were pictures around the house, and a baseball bat with a golden plaque reflecting some sunlight was on the wall.

Feeling cold suddenly, I grabbed the blanket on the couch and wrapped it around me. I wasn't about to walk around a stranger's home in my nightshirt, anyways. I quietly approached the man pointing to half-full glasses of water on top of the television and speaking to the little girl. I watched silently but patiently.

"What's wrong with this one?" he said, pointing to the first.

"It has dust in it," the small girl replied.

"This one?"

"A hair."

"This one?"

"Morgan took a sip. It has his amoebas in it," she said matter-of-factly without removing her eyes from her cartoon. I managed a small smile now realizing all of the glasses of water sitting around the living room. It was sort of comical.

The man then rolled his eyes and turned around, ready to head into the dining room. I followed, trying to hide my smile, but he caught me.

"She does this all the time," he said. "She hasn't finished a glass yet. Even if I give her a small one."

My smile only grew at that, but I made it go away as I entered the dining room behind him. He stepped aside and sat in a chair, and I saw the police officer sitting at the head of the table. Next to the man was the other one that had shook me by the shoulders and yelled at me the night before.

He glanced up at me, and I could tell he still thought I was the one who had been terrorizing their plantation. I looked away nervously as I walked around the table, taking the only available seat next to him. He seemed more unstable than the other guy, and I felt very uncomfortable sitting next to him. It felt like he wanted to pounce on me with the glare he was giving me, but I kept looking at the table until conversation finally picked up.

"Sorry," the nice guy said to the officer who looked over at me with interest. "Last night when we were running around, we found…"

"Madeline," I said.

"We found Madeline," the man continued after my support, "and she may have a few things to tell you about the intruder as well."

Officer Paski smiled at me appreciatively. "Well that's very kind of you," she said to me, "but I don't believe I know you from around here."

"My family and I just moved up the road into Thompson's Plot a week ago," I said. "My family left yesterday to go back across state to finalize the sale of our home while I stayed to supervise the construction crew coming to work on the house later this week."

The officer nodded. "So you spent the night here?"

"That's our fault, Caroline," the man I had spoken to when I woke up said. "She passed out when we found her, her family wasn't home, so we brought her in for the night."

"Well, if she can supply me with something more descriptive than 'it was very dark…'"

"It was," the man agreed.

"You can't describe him at all?" Officer Paski asked. "Don't you think that's a little odd?"

Both of the men sitting at the table with me just stared at her until the man nodded and agreed. "A little," he had murmured. The lunatic sitting next to me kept glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. I looked at the table again.

"I don't know whether to look for a midget or a-"

"No, he definitely wasn't a midget," the man said flatly.

Officer Paski nodded as if we were actually getting somewhere now. "Okay… So he was tall?"

The man turned to the lunatic. Didn't he say that they were brothers? Wasn't his name Merrill or something? I still didn't know the man's name, but I looked over at the lunatic I assumed was Merrill as they tried to agree on a height for the intruder.

"I would say so," the man said finally.

"Probably," the lunatic added as they looked back at Paski.

"Over six feet?" she pressed.

Again, the two of them stared at her blankly. I tried to envision the figure again. It was funny shaped for sure… it looked sort of lumpy now that I thought about it.

"It was very dark," the lunatic Merrill, said somewhat confused.

"Yes it was," his brother agreed again.

I looked from them over to Officer Paski who turned to me. "Would you say he was over six feet?" she asked me.

"No taller than seven," I supplied uneasily. Paski scribbled something into her little notepad and looked back up at me expectantly. "He was pretty tall," I added stupidly. But I recovered with, "Six seven, six eight… somewhere around there possibly."

I felt lunatic Merrill glaring at me again.

"You don't look that tall," he scoffed suddenly in my direction. His brother and Paski looked immediately from him to me, and I just lowered my head angrily. Paski was ready to attack me with questions, but the nice man hissed Merrill's name reprimandingly and spoke up.

"It's fine," he said. "Merrill thinks that since we found her in the backyard she's the one who's been terrorizing us-"

"Come on, Graham!" the lunatic said, raising his voice. "She was running around and freaking out when we caught her! She's not telling us something! She did it!"

"Did you do it?" Officer Paski asked me.

"No," I said. "I've just moved here and I saw someone up on their roof when I was taking a walk last night-"

"It was two in the morning," Merrill said, pushing his comment in. "That's way passed curfew. Plus it's too dark to see anything without a light."

"It is," Paski agreed.

"I didn't know," I argued. "I just moved here, and I haven't left my house since we got here!" I looked over at Merrill with some disgust. "He keeps asking where Lionel is," I said, motioning towards him. "I don't know anybody named Lionel."

"Lionel Prichard is a prankster known county wide," the man I now knew as Graham from Merrill's outburst said. "He likes to scare people and mess around, but I wouldn't think you'd know him."

"And how do you know that?" Merrill asked him.

"Stop it, Merrill," Graham said warningly. "I don't think she was capable of getting on the roof while you had a vice grip on her arms."

"There were others," Merrill tried to argue. "She had help. She would've needed it to make the crop circle. That is, unless she's had practice at it…"

"Merrill-"

"Look, we don't know anything about her," he said to Paski, ignoring his brother now. "She says she moved here a week ago, and the vandalism started two days ago. All I'm saying is that she would have had plenty of time to meet a troublemaker around here and help them do this to us. And isn't it just convenient that none of her family is home?"

"They went back across state," I said loudly, leaning towards him with a dangerous glare. He returned it without hesitation.

"Were you upset about moving here?" he asked me.

"What business is that of yours?"

"Well hormonally challenged teenagers do get angry and take things out on people that don't deserve it," he said evenly.

"Are you implying that I made a crop circle in your corn and jumped on your roof because I'm mad about having to move?"

"It's a motive."

"Yes, well emotionally unstable madmen will think of anything when they can't find an answer to their problems."

The rage in his eyes was building as we stared at each other, but mine only narrowed. I waited for him to rise out of his chair and hit me so Paski could haul him off.

"I- I see what you mean, Merrill, but just hold on a second," Paski suddenly said to avoid things getting ugly between us. "I thought you and Graham told me that this was a male you saw on your roof?"

Merrill slowly began to lean away from me, but the visible beam of frustration and hate we were shooting at each other with our eyes did not break right away.

"We did," he said distractedly before finally looking up at Paski. Satisfied with my success, I turned and nodded as a testimonial. "But she could still be involved," he added quickly.

I let out a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"How certain are you that it was a male?" Paski asked.

"Oh, I don't know…" Merrill said with a hint of sarcasm. "I don't know any girls who can run like that. Except maybe Miss Innocence here," he added as I silently fumed. "I don't know her that well."

Ignoring his comment, I spoke up. "Officer Paski, if you would have seen it, you would've believed us when we say that it was a guy."

"But I wasn't there, so I can only go by your descriptions," she said.

"But he looked masculine," I said. "He just… looked like a guy. He was tall and built-"

"I don't know," Paski interrupted with doubt as she leaned back in her chair. "I've seen some of those women on the Olympics. They can run like the wind. Some are really built up, too."

"This guy was on our roof in, like, a second," Merrill said after a moment of flustering with his words. "Our roof is ten feet high."

"I can't jump that high," I got in as casually as possible to the conversation

"I bet you can't…" Merrill muttered sarcastically under his breath.

"They have women's high jumping in the Olympics," Paski said, trying to reason with us. "They got these Scandinavian women who can jump clean over me."

"I'm not Scandinavian," I interjected quickly. "Just for the record. Mostly German bloodline."

"Caroline," Graham said softly, "I know you're making a point, but I just don't know what it is," he admitted. I didn't really see that she was making a point, and nor did Merrill; we were too busy seeing who could get the nastiest glare in last before officer Paski started talking again.

"An out-of-town woman stopped by the diner yesterday afternoon and started yelling and cussing because they didn't have her favorite cigarettes at the vending machine," she told us. "She scared a couple of the customers. No one's seen her since."

"Til now," Merrill murmured. I looked over at him angrily.

"I don't smoke," I said dangerously.

"Prove it."

"My point is," Paski said loudly, overriding our bickering, "we don't know anything about the person you saw, and we should just keep all possibilities available."

"Dad, where's the remote?"

I looked over at Graham to see the little girl that was watching the television earlier standing in front of him innocently. Graham looked at the little girl and spoke softly, trying not to be rude while Paski was here.

"I don't know, baby," he said quietly to her. "Why don't you check under the sofa cushions?" It seemed good enough for now, and the little girl walked back into the living room silently. Merrill opened his big mouth again.

"Excluding the possibility that a female Scandinavian Olympian was running around outside our house last night, what else might be a possibility?" he asked sarcastically. "You know, she could still be involved," he said, motioning towards me. "We just found her in the backyard after hearing all of this crap going on outside. She was there."

"Maybe it was just the wrong place at the wrong time," Graham said on my behalf. I thanked him silently. "We haven't even heard her story yet."

"Go ahead," Paski said, her notepad at the ready. I took a deep breath and sighed before beginning.

"I was out walking by myself," I started with a little white lie (I was not about to say I was spying on them with binoculars). "I was passing this house when I saw something on the roof, so I stopped and tried to figure out what it was."

"What did you think it was?" Paski asked.

"A burglar," I said without hesitation. "But as I looked at it, it looked stranger and stranger. Almost inhuman."

"Inhuman?" Paski repeated.

I nodded. "Big head, really tall, big upper body… and in the blink of an eye was off the roof."

"Then what?" she asked.

"I heard noises behind me," I said. "So I ran until I ended up in the corn fields. I kept running, and then I came to a clearing, and then to another… I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think it was a crop circle."

"It was," Graham said. "We reported it two days ago."

"Well, after that, I started running in another direction because the noises were getting closer and more numerous behind me," I said. "Then I fell into their backyard after stumbling out of the field, these two came running out of the house screaming and scaring me half to death, and while he was shaking me," – I pointed to Merrill – "the figure was up on the roof again and off."

"I still say you helped," Merrill said.

"What happened after the thing jumped off the roof?" Paski asked.

"I passed out. And I woke up here."

"Sounds like it should check out," Paski declared after a moment, rereading what she had written. Then, she turned to Graham and Merrill. "Was anything stolen last night? She said she thought it was a burglar."

Graham and Merrill looked at each other, but both of them replied negatively. Again, Merrill began to talk.

"Okay," he said. "I was out of line with the whole female-Scandinavian-Olympian thing. It's just… I'm pretty strong and I'm pretty fast. And I was running as fast as I could and this guy, he was… he was just toying with us."

"And I'm still a suspect?" I asked blandly.

"Yes."

"You were running at me so fast I couldn't think and you just said that the guy was faster than you," I said. "Tell me how I work into that."

"Maybe you're Superman's girlfriend," he said.

"And maybe you're just insecure because you can't explain it," I fired back, lowering my voice when I saw the little girl coming back in from the living room. She turned to Graham again.

"There's only food under the sofa," she said.

Graham looked away somewhat embarrassed. "Baby, why don't you change the channel on the television?" he suggested aside from our conversation again.

"I did," the girl replied.

"And?"

"Same show's on every channel."

That sounded strange. All of us sitting at the table looked at each other until Graham got up and followed her into the living room. We all gathered around the television curiously to see a huge crop circle taking up the screen with a 'breaking news' banner across the bottom of it, but we couldn't hear what was going on. A small boy was in the room now as well.

"Bo, turn the volume up," Graham said.

The girl obeyed without word, and I leaned into listen from behind Merrill.

"--Images were shot yesterday afternoon by a thirty-four year old local camera man in Kerala, a southern city of India. It is the eighteenth reported crop circle found in that country in the last seventy-two hours," the anchor said.

I stared in disbelief. Everyone was silent.

It had to be a hoax…

"Crop circles first emerged in the late seventies with the renewed interest in extraterrestrial life," a new voice said as a map of India was shown with markers of where these crop circles had been discovered. "They died out by the early eighties; dismissed as hoaxes." I sighed in relief.

"This new resurgence is wholly different." I felt my stomach plummet at those words. What was so different?

"Elements of it are unexplainable. The speed and the quantity in which it has appeared implies the coordination of hundreds of individuals over many countries... There is only a limited amount of explanations," the anchor continued in a shaken tone. I swallowed a bunch of nerves down hard as I stared at the things the television was showing us.

"Either this is one of the most elaborate hoaxes ever created, or basically... it's for real." The words rang in my head as I stared fearfully at the TV. I even wanted to jump a little when the boy standing next to the little girl murmured the word 'extraterrestrials.' He took out an inhaler and used it while I myself felt faint as my chest thudded some more.

"I knew I wasn't going to like it here…" I mumbled.

"What in God's name is going on?" Paski whispered, voicing all of our thoughts.

I stood there speechless as the news continued to show crop circle after crop circle. My mind didn't really comprehend it at first. Aliens… Extraterrestrials… but what about all of the ones that were proven hoaxes? It was unbeleiveable. Aliens?

As we stood there feeling very small, Graham and Officer Paski moved out of the room, leaving me there with Merrill and the two kids. Both Merrill and I were thunderstruck and numb as we stood there.

"So now what?" I asked breathlessly. "Am I the Crop Circle Santa Claus?"

Merrill didn't reply. We watched a few more crop circles flash on TV before slowly looking over at each other. He was wrong, and I was waiting for him to say it, but he didn't. He just stared at me wide-eyed before looking back at the television.


	4. Upstairs Closet

Yay to reviewers, **Norma Jean** (Omg, that is the best part other than when they run around the house, LoL. And it just says that you like to laugh! Nothing wrong with that! Haha.. Thanks for reviewing!), **Arwen Evenstar Umdomiel** (I'm glad you like my style of writing! And yes, I love writing Merrill and Madeline arguements, LoL. There will be more, so look for them! Thank you!), and **Lone Sadie** (Hi Amber! You're my little sister, LoL. And don't even! I've already told you I DON'T have heart cancer! Sheeeze! lol.. Thanks for reviewing, Munchy!)... Everybody, READ! Bwaha! LoL... Sorry, but I have a cold. And in the middle of summer, too...

x x x

**Chapter Four**

The announcer's comments were broken with periods of anxious silence as he reported. Multiple crop circles from all over India and surrounding countries were each being flashed on the screen briefly before moving to the next. Merrill was still standing next to me in a stupor, and I couldn't help but think that every science fiction writer who had written about aliens and other life forms on other planets were screaming 'Told you so!' together at that very moment. The little boy in front of me was watching the television with a sense of calm wonder, and the little girl, I figured, was too young to really understand what was happening. She watched regardless though.

As I stood there next to the strangers who had saved me last night (well, Graham was outside and I was stuck with the insecure lunatic brother), I felt extremely selfish. All I had been worried about when I found out we were moving was missing out on my senoir year, finally making the best choir in school, missing my friends and the days we spent together, missing my house, my room, the closeness of my relatives, and just adjusting to a new life when everything was already changing.

But aliens?

No. I _never_ expected things to get _that_ bad...

More and more crop circles went by ever six seconds or so. Some looked alike, some didn't. The four of us hovered motionlessly in the air as we leaned towards the TV awestruck. This had to be one of those dreams I had where everything was bad and I woke up back in my bed in my room.

If that were true, this was one long nightmare.

After an unknown ammount of time passed, Graham came back into the room without Officer Paski. He cleared his throat, and I stood up straight, taking a deep breath. I looked over at him, silently thanking him for bringing me out of my trance, but he continued looking at the others. They hadn't moved. We exchanged a look, and I was looking at the floor without a word by the time he spoke.

"Officer Paski has left," he announced as if it were very important. Still, none of them moved their eyes from the television screen. I urged him to try again with my eyes, and he nodded. "I want everybody ready to go into town in the next ten minutes," he said. "We're going to go out for a while."

Merill was now slowly leaning away from the TV as he stood up tall. The boy looked over at Graham, and the girl, Bo, stayed where she was. The way she stared at the screen sort of creeped me out. She had this eerie aura about her that sort of captivated me.

"Can we eat at the pizza parlor?" the boy asked Graham. He began to nod.

"Sure," he said. "That sounds great."

His tone sure didn't reflect the greatness of the idea. The boy ran out of the living room, and I remained quiet until Graham's eyes fell on me. I looked up, and he started talking to me now.

"Madeline, if you want, you can join us," he said. "We'll only be gone an hour or two. Or, we can drive you back up to your house on our way into town. I don't knowif you're busy or not, but it's up to you. If you wanted to get out for a while or something and relax a little..."

I pondered it for a moment. I wasn't too busy, and going to see the new town sounded all right (now that I was given the option instead of being forcefully yelled at to the point that my parents didn't want to take me). Maybe all I needed was some fresh air to calm down. I really didn't know why I wanted to go with them after last night, but it sounded better than sitting in front of the television in the new house all alone being paranoid about extraterrestrials until my family came back.

Graham was suddenly giving a stern glare over my shoulder, and I assumed it was at Merrill who was probably not happy about his brother's suggestion that I pal around with them for lunch. Now that I think about it, I wasn't dressed to go into town. As much as I didn't want to go back to my new house all alone after seeing that my neighbors had a crop circle in their backyard and watching the reports, I figured I had caused enough chaos the night before.

"Oh, I think I've been enough trouble already," I said. "I-"

"Please come with us."

I looked down, and the little girl was tugging at my nightshirt. She was looking at me with one of those faces that was hard to say no to; big beautiful eyes and an innocent face. I was having a hard time saying no now.

"Well, if you're sure you don't mind," I said, looking up at the man who had taken me in last night.

He shook his head. "It's no trouble," he assured me. "If you need to change, we can drop you off up at your house real quick before we head into town, too."

"Well, I... don't know..."

"You can sit by me in the car," Bo said, pulling at my shirt again. I mouthed wordlessly. What if Mom had called or something? Or maybe someone was coming by to fix the windows? Pump out the septic tank?

Why am I worrying about this now? I just saw reports about aliens on TV.

"Bo, she doesn't have to come if she doesn't want to," Graham told her. The little girl looked back up at me expectantly. Merrill was probably behind me about to strangle himself, but I couldn't resist telling a girl no older than my younger brother no. I am such a softy. I finally kneeled down in front of her as the boy came back into the living room pocketing a baby monitor.

"I'll go," I said to her with a smile. "You're Bo, right?"

"Yes," she said. "That's Daddy and Morgan," she told me, pointing at each of them. Graham was smiling as she explained that Morgan was her big brother, and then she turned around pointing at Merrill. "That's Uncle Merrill," she said. "He plays baseball."

Merrill's face relaxed a little as he looked down at the girl. "Not anymore, Bo," he corrected her. Then, he left the room mumbling something I couldn't understand with an angry face. I looked over at Graham.

"Bo," he said, "you need to change. You can't go running around town in your night dress. Morgan, will you help her find something to wear, please?"

"Come on, Bo," the boy said, stepping forward and taking his little sister by the hand. They turned around and left the room, and I watched them go up the staircase out in the hall. Merrill suddenly flashed by and went outside still looking disgruntled. I looked over at Graham. He sensed my discomfort.

"Just ignore him," he said. "He'll come around."

"Maybe it'd be better if I just went home," I said quietly. "I don't want to make anybody mad."

"Nobody's mad," Graham said, taking a deep breath. "It's all of this garbage on TV." He reached over and turned the television off quickly, looking uneasy. "Just a bunch of... kids who have no lives." He now started towards the front door, and I followed. I found my shoes there as promised and began pulling them on as Graham grabbed his keys.

"Thank you for talking to Offiecer Paski with us," he said out of the blue to me. I looked up."I know it probably didn't do much, but it was nice of you to help us out."

"Oh, no problem," I said, tying my second shoe. The image of the figure on the roof flashed in my mind again. And then running through the corn. The crop circles on TV.

I let out a sigh. This stuff was insane.

"Have you ever been into town yet?" Graham asked me.

"No," I said, standing up and following out of the house. "Not yet."

"You'll like it."

He walked up to a station wagon alongside the house. Merrill was already sitting in the passanger's seat looking at his lap grumpily. I was about to open the car door hesitantly when Morgan and Bo came out of the house. Morgan stayed back to lock the door while Bo came running up to me.

"Sit with me!" she said.

I laughed. "Okay."

She moved forward and opened the door, climbing in on all fours. She started putting on the seatbelt in the middle, and I slid in next to her, putting mine on. As we waited for Morgan to get there, Graham said something to Merrill I couldn't really hear. Then Morgan got into the car, put on his seatbelt, and we began to pull out.

Yes, it was awkward. I went from trespassing to passing out to looking for passing spaceships in less than twelve hours. The crop circles really did upset me. I was feeling a little sick come to think of it. But I wasn't saying anything. I was a clam right now. I felt I could trust our new neighbors enough to ride in a car with them after what they did for me last night. It was strange, just having them take me out like this, but at least I wasn't being anti-social at the moment.

Bonus points!

Within a minute, the station wagon was pulling into Thompson's Plot. Graham stopped in the middle of a grassy patch, looking back at me in the rearview mirror.

"We'll wait right here for you," Graham said.

"I'll only be two minutes," I said.

"Can I come see your room?" Bo suddenly piped from beside me.

"Bo, I don't think-"

"Can I go, too?" Morgan suddenly asked. He was already undoing his seatbelt and opening the car door before Graham could say anything though. "Okay. We'll only be two minutes. Come on, guys," he said to me and Bo. He didn't wait for us, though. He just walked up to the house and went inside.

I looked at Graham uncertainly, and he just shook his head hopelessly.

"He's been on about this plantation being haunted since he was seven," Graham said. He shot Merrill a look. Merrill looked at his lap. I sighed in amusement.

"Is Bo allowed to come?" I asked.

"Yeah, go on," he said to us in defeat."Behave yourself, Bo. That's not your house."

The little girl took my hand without a reply, and we went into my house. She looked around curiously, and I let go of her hand, looking around for the boy. I heard a creak upstairs, so I started up the staircase.

"Come on, Bo," I said. She followed.

At the top, I saw Morgan open the hallway closet and look around with interest.

"That's just a closet," I pointed out. "The light doesn't work in there either."

He paid no attention to me; he just kept looking. I went over into me and my sister's room with Bo. A breeze met us as we went in. I looked over at Hattie's window, realizing I had left it open last night. Bo ran over to Hattie's bed giggling, and she flopped onto it. I figured she would like the big pink and orange flowers on the comforter. Hattie loved bright things.I started pulling an outift out of the dresser quickly for myself.

I ran out of the room passed Morgan and the hallway closet into the bathroom to change into fresher jeans and a long-sleeved green shirt. I was done in a little over half a minute, so I grabbed a clip and started pulling half of my light brown curls up as I came out of the bathroom. Morgan was now in the closet, and a pile of clean bath towels had fallen on the floor. I sighed.

"Morgan, pick those up for me," I said, going back into my room. Bo was admiring my sister's porcelin carousel on the nightstand as it spun slowly and played a soft tune. I was picking up my purse off of my bed when my cell phone rang. I dug through it quickly and finally retrieved it, pressing the green button.

"Hello?"

"Why haven't you been answering the phone?"

It was my dad, and he didn't sound too happy with me. I walked out of the bedroom quickly and leaned over the railing of the staircase. I couldn't see Morgan in the closet anymore; even more towels were on the floor now. My eyes widened as I tried to concentrate on my angry father.

"I was outside, Dad," I lied (sort of). "I can't hear the phone from clear in the house when I'm out here."

"What are you doing outside?"

"Just looking around for a place to sit and read. I was bored."

Right. He's gonna buy that...

"Well why didn't you take the phone with you?"

The carousel music in the bedroom died down, but it started up again. Another bundle of towels flew out onto the hallway floor. I groaned, going over to start picking them up.

"What's wrong?" my dad asked before I could answer his first question.

"Nothing," I hesisated as I picked up the first armload. "I just... dropped some laundry."

"Do you know how many times we've tried to call you?" he went on as I walked into the closet. I rolled my eyes."I called the house at least twenty times, and then we started calling your cell phone because we thought you might've decided to up and run around."

"I didn't go anywhere," I half-laughed. "Where am I gonna go around here? The local Boonie General Store for chicken wire and feed?"

"I don't know; I couldn't get hold of you," he said.

"I'm sorry," I said, setting the towels on their proper shelf. I headed out of the closet to get another armful, and Bo suddenly appeared, going around me and into the closet calling for Morgan.

"Who's that?" Dad asked impatiently.

"I... met the new neighbors," I said smoothly as possible, going back into the closet. Bo was standing next to Morgan on the other side of the closet looking at something on the wall. "They have the huge plantation of corn crops behind us."

"And they're at our house?" he asked.

Oh boy... How was I gonna get out of this one?

"They were out working on their crops when their two kids came into our yard still thinking it was deserted," I tried quickly. "Then I came outside, they saw me, we exchanged hellos, and we're just playing in the yard now. It's a little boy and girl. The boy Morgan is about ten, and Bo is four."

"Do their parents know where they are?" my dad asked.

"Yeah," I said, walking out of the closet for the last time. "I think it's just their dad and his brother, though right now. I haven't seen their mom."

"What's their last name?" he asked as if he might know them.

I didn't know Graham's last name, so I went back into the closet and covered the receiver of my phone, looking to Morgan and Bo. "What's your last name?" I asked them.

"Hess," Morgan said without looking away from the wall. "Do you have a flashlight?"

"Um, yeah, second shelf right beside you," I said quickly before talking to my dad again. "Hess," I told him, putting the last of the towels back as Morgan reached for the big flashlight. I watched him and Bo now that I had nothing better to do. My dad grunted. Obviously he didn't recognize the name as he thought he might.

"Well, don't get too out of hand," he said. "I called because I wanted to remind you that the papers for the contractors when they come are on top of the fridge," he said. "They need those for insurance purposes, and without them, we can't get the house fixed."

"Okay," I said. "I doubt I'll have to worry about that, though."

"Why?" he asked, humoring me.

"Have you seen the news lately? Listened to the radio?" I asked increduously. I figured it'd be all over the world, even where I used to live.

"About the aliens?" he said boredly.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, your mother's flipping out saying we should come home, but don't worry about it. Your mom worries too much."

"You don't worry enough," I mumbled, watching Morgan take the lightswitch cover from the wall. I walked over behind them, wondering what in the world he was doing. He handed the big flashlight to Bo who held it up with some difficulty.

"It's okay, honey," my dad said. He sounded like he wanted to laugh. I didn't think it was funny. I ususally don't care about the world like my dad, but now, my mom's worry wart was catching. "We'll be home in a few days. I don't care if you do go look around during the daytime, but I better be able to get hold of you from now on on one phone or the other," he said warningly.

Morgan was twisting wires inside the wall as I half-listened.

"Okay," I said, feeling bitter about them leaving me here again. "I'm gonna go."

Suddenly, the light above us in the closet flickered on. Bo and I looked up at it in amazement while Morgan put the lightswitch cover back on. I hung up my phone as my dad said goodbye, and I looked down at him.

"You need to call an electrician," Morgan said simply.

"He's coming on Friday," I said, laughing.

A ten-year-old just fixed the closet light. Cool.

"Well, let's get back down there," I said as we left the closet. I shut the door, leading them downstairs. "I hope your dad's not mad we took more than two minutes. It was more like ten."

We went downstairs, and they went out the front door. I stayed behind and locked it before jumping over stairs to get back to the station wagon. Bo and Morgan were already buckled up in the back. Merrill looked a little less angry from the front seat, but I wasn't assuming anything. I slid into the back seat immediately shooting off apologies.

"Sorry," I said. "My dad called, and Morgan fixed the closet light-"

"I didn't see evidence of a murder, so I tried looking in the walls," Morgan told his father. Graham and I stared at him, though I think it was less of a shock to Graham. Murder?

"You looked in the walls and decided to fix their light?" Graham asked slowly.

"I couldn't see anything without it," he said before turning to me. "Can I look in your closet again sometime? The trap door must be on the other wall."

I stared at him.

"What is this about a trap door and a murder and my house being haunted?" I asked. I shook my head, but it didn't make anything more clearer. Graham started pulling out onto the road with a smile. Kids and their imaginations!

"A year after Mr. Dan Thompson built that house, him and his wife were murdered by their farmhand and thrown in the upstairs closet," Morgan said as we drove down the road. "The farmhand hid them behind a trap door so when the police came, they couldn't find the bodies. Mrs. Thompson was wearing a necklace with a silver spoon on it when she died that night. Some people say the farmhand took it, others say it's still there."

"And you want to find it?" I asked, smiling.

"Yes," Morgan answered. I looked at Graham in the review mirror. He smiled, too.

"He's been listening to you too much," he mumbled to Merrill.

Merrill, the creator of this rural legend I took it, looked back at Morgan.

"You'll find it someday," he said.

"Maybe," Morgan said whistfully, looking out the window. "It depends on what the extraterrestrials do next."


	5. Oasis

WOW. I haven't updated since before the school year started. According to my sister, that's a sin. Sorry! I apologize for my busyness. But it also helps that last month I went out and bought the movie, so now I can look at scenes closer and analyze them some before I put Madeline in the middle of them. Woo!  
**Thanks for reviewing everyone! Enjoy the chapter!**

x x x

**Chapter Five**

I thought about several things on our way to town.

One - Aliens invading. That was obvious.

Two - My new house is potentially haunted. I found it as a nice asset to the property rather than a turn-off; my friends and I loved poking around in old abandoned and haunted places back in my old town whenever we had some time to ourselves. If Kat and Brooke do come out here for a week, we're sleeping in the attic and bringing out some candles and my Ouija board I got as a gag gift for my thirteenth birthday.

Three - My chest hurt. It seemed like it anticipated another near-death scare from Merril like last night, and I rubbed my chest with a lingering discomfort.

"What's wrong?"

I looked down at Bo, and Merrill glanced back at us. I mouthed wordlessly for a second at his expectant face before looking back down at Bo.

"Nothing."

Merrill turned back around, and I gave him a bit of a scowl for being the cause of my episode last night. He wouldn't have to deal with me if he would've just let me walk back up to the plantation without a hassle. Well, he shot himself in the foot. That's his problem.

We pulled up to the sidewalk lined with parking meters, little shops, and numerous trees. Graham parked, and I took off my belt and exited the car with everyone else. I tugged my green shirt down and looked around at my new enviroment. Morgan walked passed me and up onto the sidewalk with Bo and I followed, no where else to go. Merrill deposited a few coins into the meter, and I cast him a pensive look.

"Book money?"

Merrill slowly dropped the last quarter in and narrowed his eyes. He turned his head towards me with a questionable expression, and I quickly looked down as Graham placed a few bills in his son's open palm. I felt Merrill's eyes on me as I overted mine and heard his footsteps begin in another direction. Carefully (and rather bravely), I looked in his direction again. He walked down the sidewalk without a word.

_What did I do to make you hate me?_ I thought with a twinge of regret.

"Madeline?"

I shook out of my slight trance and looked up at Graham as he came over to me.

"Yeah?"

"Can you go with Bo and Morgan to the bookstore?" I looked up, just now realizing that they were briskly walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of Merrill. Thank God. "I need to go to the pharmacy," Graham continued. "Just come back here in fifteen minutes, okay? We'll have lunch."

I nodded, starting off after the children. "Okay."

A few steps later, he relayed the message to Merrill about lunch to which I heard no verbal reply. I didn't give in and turn around again, though; I just pushed that half of the sidewalk out of my mind and strode up quickly behind Morgan and Bo. We were a way's away now, and I was satisfied.

"So, there's a bookstore nearby?" I asked them immediately, one of my few interests having been sparked.

Morgan took a sharp right onto a small stoop, and I stopped. The sign overhead read 'Nathan's Bookstore.' I looked back up at Morgan as he entered the shop.

"Yeah," he said. "Pretty close."

"I guess so," I mumbled with a smile as I followed them in.

It was decent-sized for being family owned. Little knickknacks and crafts were amongst the books on the wall shelves behind the counter, giving it more of a relaxed atmosphere. There were a few sitting chairs, some large rugs over the red carpet, and seven neat little rows of books that I was actually excited to browse through. Including walls and other books just laying around.

I smiled. I think I found a little oasis in my desolate surroundings.

Morgan and Bo were at the counter where an older couple were watching the crop circle developments on a small portable television. The man sat with a sort of challenging sneer at the newscast while the woman behind him looked indifferent. I grimaced at the sight of the screen - maybe my oasis was a little dried out.

"It's just a bunch of crock."

I looked up in surprise at the old man as his sneer intensified on the TV. "They're trying to sell sodas, plain and simple," he stated. I made a face as he supported his claim with the fact that he had seen twelve soda commercials since watching the reports that morning. Well... okay. Coke and Pepsi made crop circles for commercial publicity. I completely understand and feel better now.

I gave the countertop an odd look. To each his own...

"Do you have any books on extraterrestrials?" Morgan asked them.

Oh, I wanted to hear what Mr. Nathan had to say to this. I looked up ready for another outlandish accusation about plumbers or something.

"As a matter of fact, I think we have one," his wife said with a much gentler and kinder tone. "Came by mistake in a shipment... Decided to keep it for the city folk... Last row, third book on the left, honey," she said, pointing across the shop with a smile.

I returned the smile, deciding that I liked her. Then, Bo grabbed my hand ("Come on, Madeline!"), and I went with her and Morgan to the last row of books. I slowed as Bo and Morgan went to the other end in search of their book and admired the neatness and organization of the shelves. My smile stayed as I wandered down the aisle towards them in a dreamlike state.

"This is great," I said quietly. I knelt, picking up a copy of _Garner's Mystics: Meditation_, a method book on all levels and kinds of meditation. I looked at the subtitle that read: _Improve your physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional beings through the simple act of breathing._

"Sounds to good to be true," I murmured to myself sadly, wishing such a thing could help me instantly will myself out of Thompson's Plot whenever I needed to. I slowly rose, the book coming with me.

"Morgan, where are the-" I looked up, and they were gone. Perplexed, I peered around the shelf towards the front store window, and Morgan was just sitting down in one of the chairs as Bo ran over to the front desk again.

"Can I have a glass of water?" she asked.

"Sure, honey," Mrs. Nathan replied, walking out from behind the counter. "Come in the back with me and we'll fix you up with some."

After they went through an old wooden door on the back wall, I walked out from the row of books and took a seat near Morgan. His eyes scanned the large book studiously, and I leaned back in my chair, opening my smaller but thicker book as I settled.

_Introduction: In and Out_

_For thousands of years, mankind has transformed the simple act of breathing into an art called meditation. It allows us to vent our anger, find a place where we belong, and provides us with a deep sense of comfort. Meditation is more than just creating a world within your mind and escaping, however._

Always a catch. I knew it.

_Meditation can complete the soul, helping one find its purpose in a situation, enviroment, and life's balance. Some look to meditation for strength, others for consolement; but no matter what your purpose for seeking the use of meditation in your life, you must have three things: an open mind, concentration, and willingness._

Bo suddenly walked passed with a large glass of water in her small hands, and I looked up, watching her sit at the table behind us with Mrs. Nathan standing nearby. Bo took a small sip and eased the glass back down.

"It contaminated."

Mrs. Nathan fretted at the comment. "Carl, there's something wrong with our water!" she called to her husband (who is still staring intently at the television set).

"Your water's fine," Morgan said loudly, overriding her with some annoyance. He did not look up from the book. "Bo has a thing about her drinking water. She's had it her whole life. Like a tick people have. Except it's not a tick."

Mrs. Nathan looked at Bo with a new fascination. "Is that right?"

I went back to reading my-

"Thirteen!"

I started at Mr. Nathan's outburst, collapsing back into the chair rolling my eyes. The catchy soda jingle played from across the room as my heartbeat became labored again, and I shot him a look, too. I'm going to have to start making a list of people to stay away from for my better health. So far I've got the grumpy bookstore owner and the lunatic.

I repositioned in the chair again, but Morgan got up, handing the extraterrestrial book to Mrs. Nathan.

"I'll take it."

Suddenly, the door to the bookstore opened, and my face fell as Merrill walked in casually. He didn't look like he enjoyed running into me either. I sighed.

"Hi, Merrill," Mrs. Nathan said as she walked around the counter to ring up Morgan's book.

"Hello, Mrs. Nathan," he said, putting a pamphlet inside his jacket. Bo walked up to him, taking his hand. "Hey, you ready to go?"

"Morgan's getting a book," Bo told him. "And so is Madeline."

He looked up at me skeptically as I held the book closer defensively.

"Harry Potter?" he asked in amusement.

I pursed my lips. "No."

I walked up to the counter behind Morgan without a look back, but he and Bo followed. Mrs. Nathan handed Morgan the large extraterrestrial book, and I stepped forward, having my book rung up. The silence was making me impatient and annoyed, so I finally spoke.

"Has it been fifteen minutes already?" I asked Merrill.

"Twenty," he said. Mrs. Nathan gave me my book and bid me a good day. We started for the door. "I just passed the pizzaria, though, and Graham wasn't there."

"Is the pharmacy far? That's where he said he was going."

"No, it's probably just busy," he said blandly.

I looked away, not sure I could stand the overstimulation of our conversation as he opened the door.

Morgan stepped outside indulged entirely in his new book. Walking had taken a backseat of importance to a book, and I smiled, having done the same in the hallways at school countless times. I carried my new book with me at my side, hoping to get a chance to use it later once I went back home. It would hopefully help calm me down, and it might even prolong my life if I could learn to manage stress better. Especially knowing Merrill.

Nobody talked for the rest of our walk to the pizza place. Once we went inside, I took my customary look around, subconsciously aware that I was following Bo to their favorite table in front of the big windows. I looked up at the line to see that Morgan was with Merrill before I sat down and put my book on the table for the time being.

"Does your book have pictures?" Bo asked, pulling it towards her.

I scooted near her as she opened it. "A few. Nothing probably that fun, though."

There were a lot of similar diagrams every few pages explaining and demonstrating how to position yourself for meditation, pictures of what you could imagine to relieve certain tensions, and a few pictures of Buddha. Bo laughed when she saw him.

"He's got a big belly."

I laughed. "Yeah, he does." I went to turn another page, but Merrill and Morgan arrived with the pizza, so I put the book in my lap. Merril sat on my left and Morgan on Bo's right, leaving the enmpty chair on the end for Graham. I was still wondering where he was when he walked right into the shop. I stared.

I've been doing that a lot lately.

"Pharmacy crowded?" Merrill asked him.

"I don't want any one of you spending time with Tracey Abernathy alone," he shot out. "Is that understood?"

The others nodded, but I looked up at Graham. "Who's Tracey Abernathy?"

"Someone you should avoid at all costs," Graham said with a very serious tone. I was a little unnerved by it, but took another bite of my pizza all the same.

"Why?" I asked, glancing over Merrill now. "Is she Lionel Prichard's girlfriend? "

"No," Merrill said, shifting away slightly.

"That's because I'm his girlfriend, right?"

Merrill dropped his pizza, nostrils flaring somewhat. "Lionel Prichard doesn't have a girlfriend," he said pointedly without looking at me. "He couldn't get a date in this town if he tried."

"Hmm," I said, setting down my pizza. "Interesting..."

"Oh don't even," he said despite Graham's warning look. "I-"

"You what?" I looked up at him, but he was staring out the window. As I looked around the table, so was everyone else.

Outside was a thin man in his younger thirties carrying a bag of groceries to a truck. He seemed to be in the eyesight of everyone at the table, and I looked at him curiously.

"Is that him?" Morgan asked softly.

I looked from him to Merrill as he says, "Yeah."

My head tilted slightly as I watched him, but he then looked up, locking eyes with all five of us. I hurriedly looked away, but I found that none of the others had as this mysterious man got into his truck with his groceries and sped away down the street.

"Who is he?" Bo asked, posing the same question I had running through my mind. no one spoke for the longest time, but when Morgan did, I was floored and heartbroken all at once.

"He's the man who killed Mom."


End file.
